Beachcomber

If you like to run on the boardwalk,mark your calendars forApril 25 and the annual RockawayRotary Ocean Run, sponsoredonce again by Sweet’N Low inhonor of arts and civic activistBarbara Eisenstadt. The run willbegin and end at Beach 116 Streetwith the main event beginning at10 a.m. Prior to the adult race, anumber of kids’ races will be held.The race will be held rain or shine.

There was good news and bad news on two Rockaway fronts last week. The MTA voted to modify the plan that allows Rockaway and Broad Channel to use the Cross Bay Bridge free of charge. Beginning in July, residents will have to pay for their first roundtrip over the bridge each day. Any other trips they make that same day will be rebated by the agency. Broad Channel residents who have to use the bridge multiple times each day to get to Rockaway schools and city agencies will still get a benefit from the new plan, but those who use the bridge one time each day back and forth to work or shopping will now have to pay the freight just like everybody else. In addition, the Rockaway ferry that runs from Riis Landing to Pier 11 in lower Manhattan got a reprieve to July 1, largely thanks to City Councilman Eric Ulrich and a few others, who gave up some of next year’s member item money to keep the boat running. The downside is that it will only make one run each way daily rather than the two it made in the past. Residents now have another three months to show that it can make the service work by using the boat for their daily commute and getting the number of riders up to 300 or so each way each day.

Some crazed man ran into theJamaica office of CongressmanGregory Meeks last week, calledhim a “thief and a liar,” threatenedto blow up the office and then fledbefore police could respond to thecalls of shocked staffers. Meeks isinvolved in several federal andstate probes and has been theobject of many news stories of late.

Despite the fact that the reading scores of New York City public school students have skyrocketed on city and state tests, the same students remain flat on a major national benchmark test. In fact, the scores on the national test registered by our students have been flat since 2007. The same discrepancy has been found on math scores, records show. One New York State Education Department testing expert recently told the Daily News that “our tests have obviously not been rigorous enough.” State Education Commissioner David Steiner said, “The Board of Regents and I are committed to a reform agenda, which will raise the quality of our standards, assessments and curriculum, and strengthen teacher and principal preparation.”

The Seaside Library on RockawayBeach Boulevard and Beach 116Street has closed temporarily foran interior facelift that will includelots of new technology, libraryofficials say. Beginning April 10,limited service to library customerswill be provided by theBookmobile every Saturday from10 a.m. to 5 p.m. while the libraryis closed. Customers many renewbooks and DVDs online at www.queenslibrary.org or by phone at718-990-8508. Those services willalso be available at the otherQueens Library facilities on thepeninsula, including the PeninsulaBranch at 92-25 RockawayBeach Boulevard.

Between now and June, there will be sporadic closings of the Rockaway Freeway to allow installation of new protection for the high voltage power line that spans the length of the north side of the elevated subway station. Closures will take place from Oceancrest Boulevard to Beach 35 Street; from Beach 41 to Beach 47 Street; from Beach 88 to Beach 90 Street; from Beach 97 to Beach 101 Street and from Beach 104 to Beach 108 Street. Detour routes will be clearly marked, the MTA says.

Every time we get a major poweroutage, as we did several weeksago, people wonder why the electricallines can’t be placed underground,where they are less vulnerableto stormy weather. Theshort answer to that question,experts say, is that people wouldnot be able to afford electricity ifthe lines were put undergroundbecause that is such an expensiveproposition. They say that an undergroundsystem costs five to tentimes as much to install as thepresent lines do. Given that fact,unless the technology changesradically, those experts say, you’renot going to see many undergroundsystems in the near future.

Newspaperman H.L. Mencken, who was the basis for the character portrayed by actor Gene Kelly in the movie “Inherit the Wind,” was an astute observer of the political scene despite the fact that he was a drunk and an anti-Semite. He once famously said, “Democracy is a form of worship. It is the worship of jackals by jackasses.” Since he died in 1956, he could not have known today’s political leaders, but it certainly seems as if he was speaking directly about them when he made that statement. We keep reelecting them and they keep doing what politicians have always done.

The city’s five-minute parkinggrace took hold last week. WhileMayor Bloomberg vetoed thegrace period, the City Councilpassed it over his veto, so motoristsnow have an extra five minutesof free time after their meterhas expired to get back to theirvehicle. The mayor says that thenew rule will cause chaos, but welook forward to seeing how it doeswork out.

Some locals have called to tell us what a great experience it was to deal with the reps at the T-Mobile store on Cross Bay Boulevard in Howard Beach. One senior citizen said that the young reps worked with him for more than an hour, getting his new phone up and running and explaining all the bells and whistles.